Top Small Business Branded Merch Ideas in 2021

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Branded Merch|Top Small Business Branded Merch Ideas in 2021It’s not just big companies that need to prioritize a branding strategy. Branding is one of the best marketing areas to focus on simply because it brings with it so many advantages. From standing out in a competitive environment to being the first company that customers think of when they need what you sell, branding is just as vital for a small business as it is for a globe-spanning corporation. All companies must take the time to develop a strong brand, with consistency and adaptability at its heart. There are so many branded merchandise options to consider that it can be hard to narrow down what’s best for you. Here are some ideas that are well worth considering.

Clothing

Branded clothing is always a popular option when it comes to merch. You could have branded hats that your team members wear or hand them out as part of an after-sales process. The best thing about branded clothes is that they get seen. If you have customers that wear a sweatshirt branded with your company logo, name, and contact details, then those customers will advertise your business wherever they go. When it comes to extending your brand reach, branded clothing is always an option worth considering.

Stationary

It’s easy to overlook branded stationary. Whether it’s a corporate gift or a treat for customers, those branded pens and notepads might have a lot more value than you think. That’s because those items will be used, and every time that someone writes with your branded pen or scribbles an idea on your branded notebooks, they will see your company. The more that they get used, the more likely it is that those customers will think of you whenever they need you. Brand familiarity is a high-value marketing tool, and branded stationary has a lot of power.

Food

When it comes to corporate gifts, food is hard to beat. Whether it’s as part of an outreach strategy and introduction process, or a way of saying thank you to suppliers or high-value employees, there’s nothing quite like branded food gifts. When it comes to gifting food, you have to be careful. Some foods will spoil, so it’s always a smart idea to choose food items that will last a while. One of the best options to look at is corporate chocolate gifts because it’s very hard to find people who don’t like chocolate! High-quality chocolate is always a treat, so it’s particularly useful for brands that want to highlight their commitment to luxury.

Tech Accessories

Particularly good for tech startups and those businesses that sell any form of technology, branded tech accessories can be a pricey but high-impact option. Giving away a free branded keyboard or mouse that gets used every day has obvious value, but you need to be sure that those tech items will be used. It’s always a good idea to look at the technologies that will get seen by more than just the person receiving them. Branded USB memory sticks will get used on the go, as will branded Bluetooth speakers. Those items will get eyes on them, and your brand will get noticed by potential customers.

Branded merch should always be a marketing option, even for small, local businesses. No matter your industry, niche, or the products that you sell, match your branded merch to your brand voice, and you’ll have a marketing resource that’s hard to beat.

How To Maximize Your Business Sales

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Business Sales|How To Maximize Your Business SalesWhen you run a business, you need to make as many quality sales as you can. Without making sales, you won’t make any profit, and no profit over a sustained period of time means no business. The whole point of having a business, no matter what sector it might be in, is to sell, and whether that’s a product or a service, the process and the end result is the same.

This means, of course, that if you want to have a successful business and one that grows over time, you will need to do whatever you can to maximize your business sales and make as much money – and profit – as possible. Read on to find out how to do this and boost your business dramatically, even during lean times.

Optimize Your Site For Mobile

If you’re a savvy entrepreneur, your website is going to be an attractive, easy to use one full of excellent, informative information. Your website is, after all, your store window, and without it, or with one that is not of good enough quality, you’re going to miss out on sales that otherwise could and would have been made. So of course, it’s highly likely that your website is already up to scratch and people are visiting it.

But is it optimized for mobile? More people than ever are using their mobile devices to browse the internet and visit specific websites, and if your website is not optimized for this, you’re going to lose a lot of potential customers. This is true even if your site is perfect in every other way. This will make no difference if your visitors never see the desktop version because they only ever visit on their smartphones.

The first thing to do is to look at your site on your own phone. How does it look? Does everything line up as it should? Is it easy to navigate? Does it load quickly? Does it – perhaps most importantly of all – fit on the screen? If not, you’ll need to put some work into changing your site so that it is optimized for mobile; a good web designer will be able to help you here.

Collaborate With Influencers

To make sales, you need to put your products and services in places where your target audience is going to not only see them but be intrigued by them. This might mean collaborating with influencers on social media.

Influencers are those people who have a large fanbase or following and who will, usually for payment, post about various products and services. Their thousands, often millions, of followers will see those posts and read that information, and be tempted to use the same products themselves. Imagine the boost in sales if that was your product that had been put in front of millions of potential customers and shown in a positive light by someone they know and trust. Yes, this will eat into your marketing budget, but if your target market is online, then it could also be money well spent.

Give Your Staff Sales Training

Any kind of business training is always going to be useful. Not only will it teach your team new skills or enhance those they already have, but it will also show them that you care about them and keep them loyal to you.

When it comes down to specific sales training, this can substantially increase your sales and maximize the profits that come from them. Although some people are naturally gifted when it comes to sales, the truth is that, with the right training, anyone can become a good salesperson, and it is good salespeople that will help you to build your business. You need this even if you have a great product that people find without being sold to – if you’re already doing well imagine how much better things could be if you had dedicated salespeople on your staff too.

The right sales training means that you can ensure your staff is going to treat customers in the right way and promote your products or services in the right way too. It also means there will be a consistent sales technique used across the business.

Focus On Your Existing Customers

One of the best ways to improve your sales, even though it might sound rather counter-intuitive, is to focus on the customers you already have rather than expending a lot of time and effort attracting new ones. Those who have already bought from you will know what your products are like. They will know what it was like to deal with your business. You won’t, therefore, have to go to the trouble of telling them about this and persuading them that you are the right business to use for their needs.

Not only is it easier to focus on your existing customers, but if you do a good job with them, they are likely to let other people know what a great experience they had. They will, in essence, do your marketing for you when it comes to finding new customers. Just make sure you keep introducing high-quality and relevant new products to your range. If you can do this, your existing customers will be happy to come back time and again.

Learn About Your Competitors

Many business owners are comfortable with the idea of finding out more about their competition. They don’t like acknowledging that there is competition in the first place, let alone delving deeper into their practices (especially if they are particularly successful; it can be a humbling and even concerning experience).

Yet even if you don’t enjoy doing it, and even if it makes you feel worried, it must still be done. If you want to maximize your sales, understanding more about how your competitors are selling is going to be helpful. You’ll gain some new ideas about what to do and, if you’re outselling and outranking them, you’ll find out what to avoid too.

Promotions

When you offer some kind of promotion within your business, whether it’s money off or a free gift, or anything else, you are sure to attract more attention; customers like getting the best value they can. This will usually lead to more sales, and even if the overall profit is a little less because of the offers you are giving away to your customers, the volume of sales should make up for it.

How to Boost the Reputation of Your Business

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Business Reputation|How to Boost the Reputation of Your BusinessIf your business’s reputation has been struggling recently for whatever reason, now is the time to do something about that. You can’t simply let things continue to decline otherwise your business will really pay the price. Instead, it’s time for action to be taken. We’re going to talk today about some of the ways in which that has to happen, so read on to find out how to boost your business’s struggling reputation.

Go Back to Basics with Your Approach to Customer Service

First of all, you should go back to basics with your approach to customer service. Your business and its customers need to be on good terms if you want your reputation to be as strong as it possibly can be; it’s as simple as that. So look at how you approach customer problems and how you communicate with customers. Your tone and approach will dictate how people think of your company.

Be Transparent

Being transparent and upfront with your customers is one of the most important things you can do when it comes to finding success and managing expectations. If you’re honest with customers about problems that arise and you generally try to run your company in a transparent kind of way, it’ll make your life a whole lot easier than it might otherwise be.

Revisit Your Approach to Branding

Revisiting your approach to branding might also be a wise move. People will make judgements about your business before they’ve even used your products or tried out your services. That’s why it really does pay off to make people’s first impressions as positive as they can be. And the easiest way to do that is to do something new with your branding. After all, this is what people see first.

Make Charitable Contributions

Making charitable contributions is a good way of improving the image of your brand and it always has been. People like Haval Dosky talk about this and how important it can be to a business’s reputation. You should find charities that seem relevant to your business or that you think will be close to the hearts of your target customers and do what you can to support and give to those charities.

Be a Better Employer

People quite rightly and understandably tend to judge businesses based on how they treat their staff. If you want to make sure that people develop a positive view of your business, you should start by being a better employer and treating your staff right. If people find out that you have a toxic work culture or that your staff are paid poorly for their work, this will inevitably damage your reputation moving forward.

The reputation of your business matters because it’ll help or hinder your efforts to attract more customers and clients in the future. That’s why it’s something that is worth working to improve and something that you really can’t afford to overlook. Now is the time to make the kinds of changes discussed above.

7 Marketing Materials for Indoor and Outdoor Use

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | 7 Marketing Materials for Indoor and Outdoor UseDigital marketing is essential when trying to build a business in the modern world, but that does not mean that more traditional marketing tactics are also not important. Printed marketing collateral, signage, and promotional products can help brands to stand out from the crowd and reach consumers in a way digital marketing cannot. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs rarely start out with much of a marketing budget, and most are looking for ways to promote their business with limited resources. Small businesses wanting to invest in printed marketing materials should look for multipurpose items that can be used in both indoor and outdoor settings.

Here are seven marketing materials for indoor and outdoor use to consider for your start-up business.

1. Flyers

A low-cost and effective marketing tool is the traditional flyer. Flyers can be displayed in just about any indoor setting and can also be handed out to people at an event or in the street. The key is to distribute flyers in places where your target customers will likely see them.

2. Posters

Essentially a bigger version of a flyer, posters can be placed on bulletin boards, walls, and doors or attached to utility poles and fences. It is best to check whether you need permission to display your posters in a public space.

3. Banners

Banners can be incredibly effective when placed in the right location, e.g., roads in high traffic areas, town and city center shopping districts, and events. To ensure that your banner is suitable for indoor and outdoor use, it is important to get it produced on weatherproof and strong material that will not fade.

4. Stickers

When used appropriately, Custom Stickers can also be effective marketing tools as they can be placed just about anywhere, both inside and outside. While you might not want to go around leaving stickers in public places, giving them out to customers or at events might encourage others to use them and raise awareness of your brand.

5. Business cards

Business cards can be useful not only for individual entrepreneurs trying to network but also for businesses trying to build their brand. Many people are more likely to accept a small card than a flyer or leaflet. Alternatively, design a larger card that catches the eye and can be placed in a display rack in medical clinics, schools, tourist attractions, spas, restaurants, and clubs.

6. Vehicle wraps and decals

Advertising on the side of your car or van with vehicle wraps can be highly effective as the vehicle becomes a moving billboard. Therefore, it makes sense that by distributing bumper stickers and window stickers to your customers, you could turn hundreds of vehicles into traveling billboards for your business. There is no limit to the number of people who will see your brand as the vehicles travel all over the country.

7. Promotional products

Promotional products like water bottles, stationery, sports equipment, coffee mugs, tote bags, t-shirts and much more are incredibly popular with consumers and help raise brand awareness. You could give products away as free gifts with purchases or as prizes or sell them at events.

Best Sales Intelligence Software

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Sales Intelligence Software|Best Sales Intelligence SoftwareBefore sales intelligence software, sales reps would have to manually collect information on their accounts, reach out individually, and schedule follow ups. All this meant a lot of detective work (and not a lot of sales work) which can be automated with sales intelligence software.

Sales software is helpful to collect data and insights for companies by using external or internal data to expand sales and increase sales processes. Data collected by sales intelligence software is used to discover opportunities and inform reps of important insights into their accounts. Once salespeople have identified an opportunity they can then create strategies and improve ROI.

A good sales intelligence software must be able to merge with other sales software, business intelligence, and analytics or data management solutions. It should also be functional to search lists of companies, find potential customers, and use contact information to reach them.

Some of the best sales intelligence software include:

Vainu

Vainu provides company information whenever it is needed hence keeping the sales team relevant. The software collects data, reads, and analyses any company information that exists making it easy for the sales team to interpret and layout a strategy for their customers.

Adapt

Adapt gives users access to business contacts to build competent leads and interact with new customers faster. It offers B2B company data and contacts across various industries. The software is built for sales teams and marketers to meet goals faster.

Clearbit

Clearbit is a data engine focused on marketing for interactions of customers. It enriches customer data allowing for more personalized marketing and sales outreach as well as prequalifying and scoring leads.. The software updates sales records automatically and gets you alerts when specific contacts interact with your site.

Datanyze

Datanyze focuses on website technology. It provides technographic insights to salespersons based on data science to target their sales at scale. They offer multiple ways to access their data with ease which in turn creates campaign segments and deploys triggers and workflows.

Insideview

Insideview aims to place itself as a company database that integrates with CRM. It has an AI B2B data platform combined with data expertise from Insideview and customer support that makes it trusted by the best-performing companies. It also adds social media feeds of various companies as well as providing news mentions.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Sales Navigator makes prospecting easy. Reps can target accounts by industry, company size, location, as well as find contacts based on job title, seniority, and skills. Unlike LinkedIn, Sales Navigator is a paid sales intelligence application.

With Sales Navigator, reps can engage in a meaningful way with their accounts. It also allows reps to stay updated on activities in their accounts and even be able to connect with new contacts without necessarily having their contact information.

ZoomInfo Powered by DiscoverOrg

ZoomInfo collects data by researching and interviewing companies analytically each year. This software solution is used for B2B sales teams for IT departments. It also includes data on new initiatives and projects enabling the sales team to deliver more personalized and relevant outreach. The software also assists in targeting companies that visit your website, therefore, increasing sales success and productivity

Obviously, there are more types of software such as HubSpot Sales Hub, Owler, D&B Hoovers, and Leadfeeder. Although what is important is to utilize sales intelligence software that will enable you to find accurate possibilities. And that you find software that makes it all easy to analyze the data.